Labour MP Tom Watson, who in his role on the Commons culture and media select committee was one of the driving forces behind the investigation into phone hacking at News International, has spoken out against the extradition of UK student Richard O'Dwyer.

O'Dwyer, a 24-year-old who is studying at Sheffield Hallam university, faces up to 10 years in a US prison for setting up TVShack.net, a website linking to places to watch TV online. Criminal copyright infringement carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison in the UK.

Watson warned extraditing O'Dwyer was an example of a younger generation being "hung out to dry by lawmakers", and warned it could undermine public confidence in the US/UK Extradition Act.

"Breaking copyright laws is wrong yet most sensible people would think that the actions against young Mr O'Dwyer are disproportionate," he told the Guardian.

"Somewhere behind this case lie the powerful vested interests of the content industry. If they succeed in exercising their lobbying might by forcing the extradition of an able student to face trial in America, it will further undermine public confidence in an important treaty designed to combat terrorism.

"But let's also be honest about what is going on at the heart of this case: a generation for whom the net is not a 'new' technology are being hung out by an older generation of lawmakers who do not understand the new reality of the connected digital planet.

"Mr O'Dwyer's situation can be sorted out with common sense at the top of the UK government and US administration. But how many more bright youngsters will have their lives turned upside down because we haven't reached a new copyright settlement that understands the internet is here to stay?"

Wales's campaign calls on the home secretary, Theresa May, to revoke her permission for O'Dwyer to be extradited. The petition, hosted at campaign site change.org, is now the fastest-growing UK petition in the site's history.

Graham Linehan, the writer of sitcoms the IT Crowd and Father Ted, and blogger and online activist Cory Doctorow were among those promoting the campaign.

Conservative MP Dominic Raab, who has previously offered O'Dwyer his support, said the case highlighted the need for tighter checks on US extraditions from the UK.

"The US authorities have never let a US citizen be extradited to Britain for alleged crimes committed whilst on American soil. In cross-border cases, we need judges deciding the fairness of extradition according to clear criteria that cut both ways," he said.

"Tinkering with prosecutors' guidelines is not enough – decisions which affect the liberty of our citizens should be made in open court."

RichardO'Dwyer was one of the top trending topics on Twitter throughout Monday morning, and Wales's article launching his campaign reached the front page of popular sharing site Reddit.

In his article, Wales accused US prosecutors of caving in to the interests of the TV and film lobby by pursuing O'Dwyer.

"Given the thin case against him, it is an outrage that he is being extradited to the US to face felony charges for something that he is not being prosecuted for here ...

"From the beginning of the internet, we have seen a struggle between the interests of the content industry and the interests of the general public. Due to heavy lobbying and much money lavished on politicians, until very recently the content industry has won every battle.

"We, the users of the internet, handed them their first major defeat earlier this year with the epic Sopa/Pipa [Stop Online Piracy Act/Protect IP Act] protests which culminated in a widespread internet blackout and 10 million people contacting the US Congress to voice their opposition. Together, we won the battle against Sopa and Pipa. Together, we can win this one too."

A spokesman for the Home Office, which has been inundated with tweets from signatories to the petition, defended the UK's extradition arrangements with the US as "fair and balanced".

"Richard O'Dwyer is wanted in the US for offences related to copyright infringement. The UK courts found there were no statutory bars to his surrender under the Extradition Act 2003 and, on 9 March, the home secretary, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed an order for his extradition to the US.

"Mr O'Dwyer has appealed against the decision of the district judge and an appeal hearing will be held in due course.

"We have effective, fair and balanced extradition arrangements with the US and other international partners. People who have committed serious offences, such as murder, rape, other sex crimes and fraud, have been successfully extradited to the UK and convicted.

"It should also be noted that our courts have refused to extradite nine people requested by the US since 2004, while US courts have not refused any of our extradition requests."

A study by Channel 4 News in March 2012 found the UK had accepted 75 extradition requests from the US, refused seven and had 52 still pending. The US had accepted 40 UK extradition requests, with a further 17 cases pending.